MinnLawyer Blog

The Commission on Judicial Selection has named four finalists for  the current vacancies created upon Judge Edward J. Cleary’s appointment to the Minnesota Court of Appeals and the retirement of the Honorable Steven D. Wheeler. These judgeships will be chambered at Saint Paul in Ramsey County in the Second Judicial District.

Shawn Bartsh – Bartsh maintains a solo law practice in St. Paul where she handles personal injury cases and works as a conciliation court referee for Ramsey County. She also serves as an arbitrator and mediator in contested matters and as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. Previously, Bartsh was an adjunct professor with William Mitchell College of Law and practiced with Karon, Jepsen & Daly. She is the current president of the Ramsey County Bar Association and is actively involved with her community serving on the Board of Directors of the Highland Business Association and the Highland District Council.

Leonardo Castro – Castro currently works as the managing attorney for the Second Judicial District Public Defender’s Office where he is responsible for managing all misdemeanor and gross misdemeanor cases in Saint Paul and suburban courts. He is also an adjunct professor at the University of Saint Thomas School of Law. Previously, Castro served as the Chief Public Defender for the Fourth and Fifth Judicial Districts and was an attorney with the Riha Law Office. He served as a Staff Sergeant with the US Air Force and is currently Deputy General Counsel for the National Hispanic Bar Association.

Pat Diamond - Diamond currently serves as the Deputy Hennepin County Attorney for Criminal Prosecution where he is responsible for appellate, adult, juvenile, white collar, drug, property and gang prosecution functions. Prior to this, he was a Special Litigation Division Manager within the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office and was also Deputy Hennepin County Attorney for Civil. Diamond was also an associate attorney with Oppenheimer, Wolff & Donnelly. He is co-chair of the Minnesota County Attorneys Association’s Task Force on Election Law Reform and is a member of the Hennepin County Justice Integration Project.

Arthur Martinez - Martinez works as a Forensic Unit Attorney with the Hennepin County Public Defender’s Office while also maintaining a solo practice where he primarily handles criminal cases. Previously, he was a managing attorney at the West Side Office of the Neighborhood Justice Center. Mr. Martinez produces, directs and hosts a Spanish-speaking talk show program, “Es La Ley” that educates the Latino community on their legal rights. He is a founding member of the Minnesota Hispanic Bar Association and remains actively involved with the organization.

Posted on PrawfsBlawg on April 1:

Shake Shack to Open New Supreme Court Location

Esteemed restauranteur Danny Meyer revealed plans today to open a Shake Shack at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Meyer already has a Dupont Circle location for his wildly popular burger franchise, but was looking to capture the crucial Capitol Hill market.

That’s when Chief Justice Roberts stepped in to offer prime real estate on First Street.

“We’ve been contemplating an upgrade in the Court cafeteria for a while now, and we saw this as an opportunity to draw more Americans to our great halls of justice,” the Chief Justice remarked, noting that people were already lining up outside of the Court in anticipation of a new Shake Shack location.

In honor of the opening, Shake Shack has announced that it will be adding menu items exclusive to the Supreme Court location including the Chief Justice Burger and the GVRilled Cheese Sandwich.

The opening, however, has not been without controversy.  The Justices are said to have had intense disagreements about details of the arrangement, for example, whether broccoli should be a mandatory part of every meal.

Moreover, several prominent lawyers who applied for employment as “clerk” were disappointed to learn that they were being interviewed for positions at cash registers rather than in chambers.

Despite these setbacks, the Shake Shack is on track to begin taking orders as early as this October, promising to make the 2012-2013 the most delicious in Supreme Court history.

We know we’re a day late with April Fool’s — so sue us.

The Minnesota Office of Lawyers Professional Responsibility filed a disciplinary petition against Eden Prairie attorney Timothy Thomas Nipper last week.

Nipper was admitted to practice in 1991 and placed on restricted status in January 2011 and suspended in July of that year for nonpayment of registration fees.

The petition alleges that Nipper was charged with several criminal charges between 2006 and 2011 arising from incidents with his girlfriend. He routinely violated his probation as a result of the charges. He pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct, interfering with an emergency phone call, criminal damage to property and other crimes. As part of his probation he was told to not use alcohol and have no contact with his girlfriend. He tested positive for alcohol and contacted the woman. He was arrested for violating his probation. In 2010, he was arrested for drunk driving in Hibbing, Minn.

The office also alleges that Nipper was hired in 2010 to represent a client in a child custody and paternity matter. The client paid Nipper a $1,000 retainer and the office alleges Nipper did very little work on the matter and after he was arrested for the DUI charge in 2010, made no attempt to contact the client or refund his money or return his file.

The disciplinary petition was filed with the Supreme Court after Nipper waived a probable cause hearing on the charges. He has 20 days to respond to the petition.

Judge Carol Hooten

Judge Carol Hooten has been appointed to the Court of Appeals to represent the Second Congressional District, the seat that will be vacated upon the retirement of Judge David Minge.

Hooten is currently a First Judicial District Court, having been elected in  2002 and re-elected in 2008. During her tenure, Hooten served as Chair of the Children’s Justice Initiative where she was responsible for implementing new best practices for child protection cases. Previously, she worked for two private law firms before starting her own firm, in which she represented clients in civil matters. Hooten also worked as an arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association. She received a B.A., summa cum laude from the University of Minnesota in 1973; and a J.D. from William Mitchell College of Law in 1978.

Additionally, Hooten serves as chair of the Scott County Juvenile Justice Coordinating Committee and is a member of the Scott County Legal Law Library Board. Her family also established a memorial fund for Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis. Judge Hooten previously served as chair of the Parental Leave Committee for Minnesota Women Lawyers and was an active member of the Eagan Athletic Association.

Hooten resides with her family in Lakeville.

Greg Wersal

A divided 8^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, sitting en banc, has upheld the constitutionality of challenged provisions of the Code of Judicial Conduct pertaining to judicial elections and campaigns.

The challenge to the code was brought by repeated judicial candidate Gregory Wersal, who said his attorneys were already working on a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The court reversed its three-judge panel and affirmed District Court Judge Ann Montgomery in finding that two provisions of the Minnesota Code of Judicial Conduct—the “endorsement,” and “personal solicitation” ” clauses—do not unconstitutionally infringe on the First Amendment rights of judicial candidates.

It found that “Minnesota has met its burden of demonstrating a compelling state interest in (1) maintaining judicial impartiality and (2) maintaining the appearance of judicial impartiality.”

The court upheld restrictions on a candidate’s ability to endorse or oppose other candidates, except for the judge’s opponent, under Code of Judicial Conduct, Rule 4.1(A)(3).

It concluded that the endorsement clause was narrowly tailored because it only prohibits the act of endorsement itself, which is a direct expression of bias in favor of or against potential parties to a case, or at the very least, damages the appearance of impartiality. Therefore, the clause targets precisely that speech which most likely implicates the state’s compelling interests, the court said.

The court also upheld the solicitation clause, Rule 4.1(A)(4), which bars judges and candidates from personally soliciting or accepting campaign contributions in most situations.

It was not persuaded that recusal in cases where impartiality could be questioned was a sufficient remedy. “[R]ecusal serves as an after-the-fact remedy that is insufficient to cure the damage to the appearance of impartiality fashioned by personal solicitation, which is by and large complete at the time of the ‘ask.’ At the very least, by the time the Due Process Clause requires recusal of a judge, the appearance of impartiality has already been impaired,” the court said.

Montgomery also found that a challenge to the “solicitation for a political organization or candidate” clause was not ripe.  The 8^th Circuit agreed.

“Wersal’s challenge is not ripe because he only seeks to solicit funds for his own campaign committee—which he is permitted to do under the Code—and not for another’s campaign, or himself personally, and therefore he cannot show there is a likelihood he would face sanctions for engaging in his desired conduct. Thus, we affirm the district court’s dismissal of this claim.”

Judge  C. Arlen Beam dissented, joined by Chief Judge William Riley

Governor Mark Dayton announced today commencement of a process to fill a vacancy on the Minnesota Court of Appeals, for the Seventh Congressional District, created when The Honorable Roger M. Klaphake reaches mandatory retirement under state law this summer. 

The application process is now open for this vacancy. Applicants must have resided in the Seventh Congressional District established by the 2000 U.S. Census Bureau for at least one year. The Seventh Congressional District includes a broad range of cities such as Alexandria, Detroit Lakes, Fergus Falls, Marshall, Montevideo, Moorhead, Red Lake Falls, Redwood Falls and Willmar.

An individual wishing to apply may request an application by writing to Lee E. Sheehy, Chair of the Commission on Judicial Selection, at 130 State Capitol, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd, St. Paul, MN 55155, or by contacting Tiffany Orth, Appointments Coordinator, via e-mail at tiffany.orth@state.mn.us. The application deadline is Friday, April 27, 2012.

For inquiries concerning the application process, please contact Tiffany Orth at tiffany.orth@state.mn.us or at (651) 201-3413.

The annual National Law Journal list of the Top 250 law firms was published earlier this week and eight firms with Minnesota ties are on it.

According to the magazine, the nation’s largest firms added more than 2,000 lawyers last year, but the growth wasn’t across the board. More than 100 firms reported declines in headcounts from the previous year. The list was for 2011 so the merger of Faegre & Benson and Baker & Daniels was not reflected in that firm’s ranking.

Firms that did labor and employment work and those that with an international presence reported the most growth, the NLJ says.

The firms with their largest office in Minnesota are:

Lindquist & Vennum and Briggs and Morgan both had 176 lawyers and came in at No. 226 and 225 respectively. Both firms were down nine lawyers from 2010.

At 181 lawyers, Bowman and Brooke came in at No. 221. This is the first year Bowman and Brooke made the NLJ 250.

Leonard Street and Deinard was up 13 attorneys for a total of 191, good enough for No. 209

Fredrikson & Byron had 237 lawyers, six more than in 2010 and came in at No. 174.

Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi reported 244 lawyers, the same number as in 2010 and came in at NO. 170.

Before the merger, Faegre & Benson reported 425 lawyers, down 21 from 2010 and was ranked at No. 100.

Dorsey & Whitney reported 531 lawyers, down 36 from 2010 and at No. 75.

The list calculates the number of partners, associates and equity partners and non equity partners. There are other firms with Minnesota offices on the list as well, like Kutak Rock and others.

Mayo Clinic has been found not negligent in the suicide of a psychiatric patient, the Rochester Post Bulletin reports.

The decedent was on a walk with other patients when he was able to slip away and jump from a parking ramp.

Reportedly, plaintiff’s attorney Jim Carey said Harms’s security clearance had been moved from the most restrictive level to the least restrictive level on May 8 to allow him to get an MRI outside the psychiatric ward in Saint Mary’s Hospital.

The security level should have been increased back to the most restrictive level when Harms returned to the ward from the MRI, Carey said, but it wasn’t.

“The evidence suggests that this slipped through the cracks,” Carey said, according to the Post Bulletin. “They really kind of enabled him, or gave him a venue, for what they were trying to guard against.”

The paper reports the jury deliberated for four hours.

The talk is, Citizen’s United has changed everything. Not true?  Hear for yourself whether that’s true or not and whether that’s good or bad at The University of St. Thomas Journal of Law & Public Policy’s free symposium and lunch discussing the Supreme Court case Citizens United v. FEC on Friday, March 30, 2012 at UST Law in Minneapolis.   Attendees will receive 5 standard CLE credits.

Those who want to attend should RSVP as soon as possible to lawrsvp@stthomas.edu with the subject line “JLPP Symposium.”

Hon. Burke

Judge Kevin Burke of Hennepin County says at MinnPost that the Supreme Court itself will be tested during the Affordable Care Act oral arguments, and he hopes that the justices will be respectful and fair during the five and a half hours of oral arguments.  “[T]he justices will need to let attorneys actually make some points without being interrupted, to appear willing to listen (better yet, actually be willing to listen), and to avoid arguing from a clearly predetermined position,” says  Burke and his co-author, Judge Steven Leben at the Kansas Court of Appeals.